


Someday Love Will Find You

by bennettmp339



Series: Occam’s Razor [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alabama, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Captain America Steve Rogers, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Don’t copy to another site, Emotional Bonds, Lube, M/M, Masturbation, Modern Bucky Barnes, Nightmares, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Sex Toys, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tuscaloosa, non-graphic mentions of past character injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2019-09-24 21:08:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17108159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennettmp339/pseuds/bennettmp339
Summary: Bucky Barnes met his soulmate, Steve, in the Target in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, while in grad school. He didn’t realize it.Thrust into a modern world where emotional bonds are considered the things of fairy tales and Hallmark Movies, Steve Rogers must figure out when and where he met his soulmate before it’s too late.





	1. to survive the tide

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmates, emotional bonds, and soulmate identifying marks will all feature in this story. As will OCs and real people. The Crimson Tide will be made fun of. 
> 
> _Please note that the rating has gone up_  
>     
> Title is from the song [ "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey](https://open.spotify.com/track/4ECNtOnqzxutZkXP4TE3n3?si=XcsFomKoQ12XAUbGuRIp4w).  
> Cain, Jonathan, and Perry, Stephen R. (1983). Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). [Recorded by Journey]. On _Frontiers_. [Audio File]. New York City: Columbia Records.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's perspective on the events of "Occam's Razor."

Steve let his thoughts wander as he headed out of Tuscaloosa. He'd stopped in the city for supplies on his way down to New Orleans from D.C. He'd taken US Route 50 from D.C. out to somewhere near Winchester, VA to pick up US Route 11, and had wound his way through the front range of the Appalachians. He wasn't in any rush to get to New Orleans, so he stopped whenever he wanted to, seeing parts of the US that he'd never dreamed he'd once be able to see, before the Serum. Whenever Route 11 joined up with I-81, he’d get on another road. It never felt right, I-81, though he knew it would be much faster to get to New Orleans. 

He'd stopped at a lot of small towns, every farmstand that he'd passed, and far too many breweries, wineries, and cideries for Tony’s comfort. He spent most of his nights camping, usually at official campgrounds, though he'd camped more than once at the side of a back mountain road, stopping the bike and pulling out his bedroll. Whenever he needed to talk to people, he stopped at small town motels and the occasional B and B. Tony would call him every day or so, complaining about how he was traveling across the country and repeating his offer of the Stark Industries corporate jet. Steve simply laughed and reminded Stark that he hadn't had a chance to explore the country before he'd gone into the ice. Captain America should know his country, right?

Steve hadn't really been intending to stop in Tuscaloosa, but the US Route that he’d been driving on was merged with a major interstate highway and he was decided that he might as well do a supply run. He'd gone to the Target, though he wasn't sure why, since he usually went to small, local stores. He'd later say that something was pulling him towards the Target in Tuscaloosa, but at the time he’d told himself that the town wasn't likely to have the type of store he usually looked for. 

In the Target, he'd met the most amazing person, a young grad student who willingly let people call him “Bucky” and talked with Steve about baseball and other things Steve’s new team didn't care about. There was something different about Bucky, more than the fact that he didn't treat Steve like a celebrity and let Steve follow him around the dizzyingly large store. He gave Steve the occasional funny look, though he didn't seem too concerned about Steve. 

There, in the Target in Tuscaloosa, Steve remembered what it was like to talk to normal people about a normal topic. He bought himself some supplies, mostly fruit which kept longer his saddlebags, as well as two notebooks by a brand named after a rodent (one designed with his shield logo!) and a several sets of the various art supplies he could find. It wasn't a great selection, so he made a note to find an actual art store before he got to New Orleans. 

He couldn't figure out why leaving Bucky in the Target in Tuscaloosa felt like the hardest thing he'd ever done, far more difficult than putting the _Valkyrie_ in the water. He'd known why he had to do that, but leaving Bucky in Tuscaloosa? He had no idea why he had to do that. 

Sighing, Steve loaded up his saddlebags and texted Tony where he was. He checked his GPS and picked up US Route 40 leaving Tuscaloosa, avoiding the hell that was US Route 11 anywhere near the town, and hoped the open road would clear his head. He had a town to get to and a country to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the title is a reference to the famed Crimson Tide. I like to think I'm funny.


	2. And I'm gone On the rising tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's Sunday is full of thoughts of Steve

The next day, Bucky couldn’t get Steve out of his head. He cooked himself pasta with alfredo sauce and white wine-poached zucchini for his lunches for the upcoming week, and wondered what Steve would want for lunch, if he liked zucchini. He baked himself blueberry muffins for his breakfast and found himself wondering what Steve liked for breakfast - he was clearly not a ‘cereal and bananas’ kind of guy, if the look he gave the bananas was any indication. 

He watched a marathon of made-for-tv feel-good movies while grading the first essays from the classes he was teaching, and wondered what type of movie Steve liked. He made himself dinner, Steve still taking his thoughts, and decided that he needed to get Steve out of his head. And there was one way to do that - Bucky needed to masturbate to thoughts of Steve (it had happened before, Bucky’s brain having latched onto a person, and he'd learned that lots of masturbation was the only cure). Hopefully, once he came to thoughts of Steve a few times, Steve would be out of his system. It wasn't like he was ever going to see the man again, after all. Right? 

After dinner, Bucky took a long shower, using the hot water to bring Steve to the front of his mind, feeling himself harden as has thought about Steve. He ran his fingers along his dick in teasing strokes as he showered, until he was standing under the warm water, rock hard and leaking. He leaned against the side of the shower and wrapped his hand around his dick, eyes closed as he sensually stroked himself to thoughts of Steve. Steve’s hands with those large and calloused fingers on his body. Steve’s perfect pouty lips. He’d been so turned on all day that it didn’t take long before he was coming over all over his hand with a grunt, spurting come onto the wall of the shower. He stroked himself through the aftershocks, watching his come wash down the drain, before sighing and washing his hands and finishing his shower. 

He turned off the water and grabbed his towel as he stepped out of the shower, already feeling the low buzz of arousal in his belly. He ignored it as he shaved in front of the mirror, and headed into his bedroom. There, he pulled on a pair of dark blue lounge pants, and pulled out his clothes for the next day, putting his folded socks and undershirt on the top of his dresser and hanging his slacks and dress shirt over the door knob. He made sure that everything was as close to ready as it could be for Monday. 

After his shower, Bucky got himself ready for work for the week, grinding coffee beans for coffee in the morning, setting up the coffeemaker, and setting up as much as he could for his lunch the next day, laying out a cloth napkin, a fork, a knife, a spoon, a container of cookies, and a blueberry muffin wrapped in that reusable waxed cloth stuff. He made sure his sparkling water was in the fridge, as well as his mandarin oranges and his yogurt for the next day. He filled his water bottle, and decided that he was all set for the next day. He was ready to go to bed. 

Yawning slightly, Bucky headed into his bedroom and settled onto his pillows in an inelegant sprawl, legs spread wide. He palmed his dick through his lounge pants, feeling himself harden, as he pulled lube and a dildo from his night stand. He pulled his lounge pants off, and shoved a pillow under his hips. 

He took his time, fingering himself open, imagining good how Steve’s fingers would feel, before sliding the toy into his body. He was always careful, since it wouldn’t do to show up at the local medical center for a sex-related injury (much less a _masturbation_ related injury), though there were times he wished his partner would be rough with him. He wouldn’t break and sometime being fucked into the mattress so hard he couldn’t walk the next day was exactly what he wanted out of a partner. So that’s what he thought about, Steve fucking him into his mattress. Steve was a big guy, and it would be so easy for him to fuck Bucky through his mattress, without a thought. If he ever saw Steve again, he would have to see if he was into guys, and see if he’d be up for a no-strings attached hook up. 

With his fantasies and fucking himself on his dildo, it didn’t take Bucky long to come for the second time, biting his lip to keep from screaming in pleasure. He fucked himself through the aftershocks, rocking on the dildo, his eyes closed, as he came down from the height of his orgasm. After not too long, he slid the dildo out of himself, cleaned himself up, and pulled his lounge pants back on. He yawned slightly, feeling sleepy after his two orgasms, and picked up his tablet to read for a bit before he fell asleep. He relaxed against the pillows, smiling slightly to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "Van Diemen's Land," by U2.


	3. Come turning of the tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky wakes up on Monday morning, ready for a long and busy day at work.

Monday morning, Bucky groaned as his alarm went off at 6:09 AM, letting him know that the weekend was officially over and he had to go into work. One of the “benefits” of the PhD program he was in was that his tuition was waived because he taught classes. As the most recent PhD candidate, though, he was the one teaching the MWF 8:00 AM class. He was teaching three 50 minute-long classes in a row, and another at 1:00 PM, so his weeks were packed with lesson planning, teaching, and grading. He had a meeting after his last class with the librarian who was teaching several information literacy classes later in the semester, he remembered, as he dragged himself out of bed, stumbling into his kitchen to start his coffeemaker. 

He performed his morning ablutions, and got himself dressed for his classes. He'd looked up his librarian over the weekend, and discovered that she was a fairly well respected sociolinguistic historian who supposedly spoke fluent Russian. Hopefully, she'd do a good job teaching his classes about… whatever it was librarians taught students. He’d make sure to ask what she was supposed to teach his students about during their meeting this afternoon. If his students liked her, he'd consider asking her to help him with his own research. Yawning, he pulled on his gray slacks, buttoned his blue Oxford dress shirt, buckled his black leather belt, and slid on his black leather loafers without socks, before wandering into his kitchen to pack his lunch and pour his coffee. 

Lunch packed, he double-checked his backpack, grabbed his lunch, breakfast, and coffee, made sure he had his keys, and headed out for the day. His officemate, a phd candidate like him, was in the office all day. She had office hours during the morning, and would be working on her own research once she finished with her last student. She was researching soulmarks and soulmates in literature, with a focus on music lyrics. 

It was as he was turning left onto McFarland that he realized that he hadn't thought of Steve at all that morning. He still knew he wanted to talk to Pat. She is was always willing to discuss his love life, if only to keep him from asking if she'd found her soulmates yet. Perhaps that lipstick he'd picked would work as a bribe…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Turning of the Tide" by Krysten Berg.


	4. Like the tide at its ebb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulbonds are discussed. Bucky remains oblivious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky meets with his librarian, sees her soulwords, and discusses soulmates, soulbonds, and emotional bonds with his office mate, Pat Coyne.

It was after 3:30 PM before Bucky even go to his office, after his four classes and his meeting with his librarian. He’d managed to eat his lunch in the student center, so he wasn’t starving after his long day, but he was exhausted. He briefly wondered what Steve was up to and how his day had been, before wondering why he was still thinking about Steve. Who was Steve, really, and why was he still in Bucky’s head?

They’d hit it off, Bucky and his librarian, and he was looking forward to their collaboration in his upcoming classes. If she hadn’t been soulword-matched (her traditional ring of braided gold and platinum worn on her right hand in the Orthodox style), she’d have been just his type. He’d made an appointment with her to work on his own research, and had gotten a peek at the matte black words running up her left forearm as she’d shifted to check a calendar pinned behind her printer. She’d shrugged when she’s seen his gaze, and pushed the cuff of her purple dress shirt up to show the neat Cyrillic writing running from wrist to elbow down the outside of her forearm, set against a watercolor tattoo the blue and gold of the Ukrainian flag. She, like so many others, had added a tattoo around her soulmark, one that accentuated it and showed a deeper meaning of the word or how they met. 

Once in his office, he’d dumped his backpack on the floor next to his desk, and collapsed into his chair, groaning. Pat looked up from her typing and pulled her headphones off, eyes curious. “And how was your day?” She asked, automatically saving her work as she turned to fully face him.

“Long.” Bucky settled into his chair, turning on his computer to check his email. “Why do they think that anyone can teach 4 back-to-back classes?” He stretched, reaching his arms above his head and leaning backwards in his chair. 

“Most primary and secondary education teachers have more classes on a daily basis,” Pat reminded him, not-uncharitably. He’d seen her schedule from a previous year, where she had been the one teaching the back-to-back-to-back-to-back classes. “But you look like you’ve had a day.” 

Bucky turned to look at her fully, noticing the bouquet of carnations in a vase on her desk for the first time. He sighed. “I met someone on Saturday.”

“You finally do what Michael suggested and go to a game?” she asked. Bucky gave her a look, but her year teaching middle school meant that she had a good poker face and was unswayed by pouts and glares. 

“No, I met him at Target.”

“Target’s not usually a place to meet people,” she agreed, humming thoughtfully. “Did you meet him or _meet _him?” She raised her eyebrows as she said it, her blue eyes glinting mischievously. Ever since she’d learned that Bucky was bi, she’d been trying to convince him to go out and meet people. Failing that, she’d started to set him up on occasion. It was shortly after the first time she’d set him up that had Bucky had learned about her soulmate situation, which put Hallmark to shame.__

__“He followed me around the store, actually. Struck up a conversation about baseball and just how god awful the weather has been recently. I bought my groceries, he bought… a sketchbook and some oranges?” Bucky paused, thinking about his trip to Target on Saturday. “I felt like I recognized him from somewhere.”_ _

__“It would be just like you to meet a celebrity and not notice,” she said, turning as if to return to her work. She paused, clearly considering something, before asking, “did you, you know?”_ _

__Bucky hesitated, thinking carefully about his shopping trip. About how, despite the tightness of the aisles and the jostling of a few sections, they’d never made skin-to-skin contact. “No, we didn’t,” he said, rubbing his left forearm and sighing._ _

__She smiled, a touch sad. “Soulmates are usually compelled to touch, if they haven’t. Do you want me to do some research on partial soulbonds?” she asked, adding, “it’ll fit in to my dissertation, partial and emotional bonds are things songs are sung about.”_ _

__“If you’re sure.” Bucky paused before adding, “but please don’t make me watch Hallmark movies as ‘evidence.’ Once was enough.”_ _

__Pat smirked as she turned back to her computer and pulled up the library’s homepage. “Emotional bonds are part of their Valentine’s specials, not their fall specials,” she said, keys clacking as she typed something into the search bar. “Though I have found people referencing emotional bonds in journals and diaries during the first few decades of the 20th Century. It’s fascinating how they seem to have faded from consciousness shortly after the second world war. Hmm, that makes me wonder if Captain America knows anything about them. He would be an amazing source of information about soulmates and soulbonds from the time period. And what a coup to cite a personal interview with him.”_ _

__Bucky easily tuned out Pat’s rambling as she researched soulmates emotional soulbonds, answering a few questions and agreeing to get drinks with her to discuss her research on Friday. He startedon the papers he needed to grade. It was going to be a long week. Hopefully, Pat’s masters in library studies would help find the information she needed for her dissertation and he wanted to figure out just who Steve was and why he was in his head._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Ebb Tide" by Checkmates Ltd.


	5. желание

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Bucky is meeting with his librarian and complaining to Pat about how he can't get Steve out of his head, Steve is taking the (very) scenic route to New Orleans and can't stop thinking about Bucky. Cue a phone call to Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some background on two OCs, one of whom is (in this universe) a Stark Industries business partner. Non-graphic mentions of past character injury and a car accident.

On his way out of Tuscaloosa and for the next few days on the road, Steve had trouble getting Bucky out of his head. Everything he did or thought was about Bucky. What would Bucky think of this farm stand or of touring the country on motorcycles? It got to the point, somewhere on a badly-maintained backroad that he was reasonably sure was still Mississippi, that Steve called Tony and asked for something to do in New Orleans, to get his mind off of Bucky. He’d figure out why he was having that problem once he got to New Orleans and did whatever Tony needed him to do there. Tony laughed at the fact that Steve was several days into a 6 hour drive. 

Tony suggested that that he meet with one of his business partners, a Louis de la Côte du Val de Mer. Tony told Steve that Louis had been badly injured recently, and was slowly working himself back to the level he had been as he recovered from his injuries, the reconstructive surgeries, and physical therapy. His “partner” (here Tony snorted and said the word “partner” in such a way that heavily implied that they were more than just business partners and flatmates) Jean-Paul de Vieux Pont du Lac had done what he could to support CVM International, until he himself had been hospitalized after a car accident. VPL Holdings was not a SI business partner, so Jean-Paul hadn't focused on it while attempting to wrangle two multi-billion dollar, multinational companies, an injured business partner, and a his own physical therapy. 

After about ten minutes of back and forth, Tony admitted that the reason he wanted Steve to meet this Louis was because he needed him to look over a contract, one that would “create a self-sustainable trust…” Steve zoned out on the words and let Tony's voice keep him grounded with the modern century. It was only after Tony said his name a few times that Steve made an effort to pull himself back into the conversation. 

“So I'm sending you Louis’ contact information; don't go sharing this number around - he almost didn't give it to me. _Me_ , Steve!” Tony ranted for a minute or so about how Louis was apparently neither the most powerful nor the most famous person he knew - apparently having Bono’s personal mobile number wasn't worth anything any longer ( _whatever **that** meant_). Steve rolled his eyes, and told Tony to forward him any documents and information, as well as any contacts he'd need for this. 

He listened to Tony with one ear as he used his thumbprint to access the documents that had been pushed to his tablet. He confirmed that he had a contract document, several pages of notes about the contract, and a contact sheet for both Louis and Jean-Paul. Louis’ was extensive, going into excruciating detail about who he knew professionally, things that he liked and disliked, and all of the companies he either own outright or had more than a 10% stake in. Jean-Paul’s was less detailed, only covering VPL Holdings and noting that there was more information available on the various pages dedicated to CVM International. 

“You sure this Louis’ll be okay with me negotiating on behalf of you and the Avengers?” Steve asked, skimming the documents and seeing that the reason Tony hadn't sent an SI lawyer (or Pepper) was because he wanted an Avenger to negotiate on behalf the team, and had gone so far as to say that only Steve or himself was authorized. Tony just laughed, before letting him know that Louis was one of the best contract lawyers in the country. 

“He does this sort of thing for fun, Steve. Fun! Jean-Paul enjoys doing accounting and bookkeeping in his free time. Watch out, they'll run circles around you!” With that final warning, Tony disconnected. Steve smiled down at his phone and double-checked his calendar. He now had a meeting scheduled with Louis CVM in two days, as well as a hotel reservation in the French Quarter. He was to call the hotel before he crossed Lake Pontchartrain, so they would verify when he was arriving. If this Louis was anything like Tony, Steve wouldn’t even have to check-in to the hotel before he was invited to stay with him. 

With a destination in mind, Steve wasted no time in getting back onto his preferred US Routes and made it to New Orleans the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is "Longing." 
> 
> For anyone interested in the geography, it would take a little over 6 hours of driving to get from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to New Orleans, Louisiana, via US Route 11. Steve calls Tony on Tuesday (he met Bucky on Saturday) and makes it to NOLA on Wednesday.


	6. ржавый

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve learns about emotional bonds. And Hallmark's "Fall Harvest" movie marathon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains references to nightmares Steve might have of being frozen, and talks about Steve's father and World War I. 
> 
> When I started writing this, I joked in the CapRBB Slack Chat that it was basically a Hallmark movie.

New Orleans was a place Steve had heard about, a place he’d always wanted to go to and spend time in. He just wished he’d be able to stay longer than he knew he would be able to. He was right about the invitation to stay with the SI business partner - the hotel gave him the man’s card when he checked in, as well as a handwritten invitation to dinner that night. Their official meeting wasn’t for another day or so, but Louis wanted him to be comfortable while he explored New Orleans. He took him up on the offer of a room to stay in and a tour of the French Quarter. It wasn’t every day that you got a tour of someone’s hometown. 

His next few days were a blur of tourism and luxury. His bed was amazingly soft, but it was like trying to sleep on a cloud. The food Louis served was wonderful, even though he suspected that his portions were toned down a bit, spice-wise. Louis seemed to understand that Steve’s metabolism required enormous amounts of calories and introduced him to all the local food he could eat, even if he himself only drank coffee. He was often on his phone, discussing things in melodious French or sharp English, but he was incredibly attentive to Steve as they went through the French Quarter, and even stayed up with him the night he awoke from a nightmare of being trapped in the ice. Despite the lingering chill of the nightmare, it was one of the best nights Steve had had since he was found and defrosted. 

Steve only saw Jean-Paul the once, when the blond almost literally ran into him on his way to the airport, a briefcase in one hand and talking rapidly into his phone. Apparently there had been some sort of emergency somewhere and he needed to go deal with it. That’s what he said after apologizing for almost running into Steve and before grumbling about the fact that his assistant couldn’t handle this emergency, like she’d handled the rest (he was convinced that she was more effective than him in his boardroom when it came to negotiations). 

Steve’s business meeting with Louis at his Rue Royale flat was uneventful. Louis looked over the documents that Tony had sent him, agreed to with what he was trying to do, and said that he’d write a draft of the documents for Steve to take to Tony. He explained the complicated legalese in language that Steve understood, and seemed amused by some of Steve’s questions. The next day, he sent Steve off to New York with the promised draft of the various documents Tony had requested, a note from Jean-Paul promising to look over any of the accounts, and a promise that they would continue their conversation about soulmates. 

While Louis was unwilling to discuss his soulmate or the strangely archaic language present in the soulwords running down his right arm, he was a firm believer in emotional bonds, the first Steve had met in this new, strange, century. The first person to accept something that had been part of Steve’s life for so long. His parents had formed an emotional bond, one strong enough to withstand his father shipping off to War. They’d reconnected, stabilized their bond, and had him, only for his father to die of injuries sustained during the War. It was talking with Louis about soulmates, soulwords, and emotional bonds that Steve realized what had happened in Tuscaloosa - he and the amazing grad student who willingly let people call him Bucky had forged an emotional bond. A strong one. One that wanted to be recognized and stabilized as a full soulbond. It was unlikely that this emotional bond would fade in time, but that it would become demanding of them. 

It was with this heavy heart that Steve returned to New York with the contract for Tony. He knew that he would have to go back to Tuscaloosa and start knocking on doors until he could find this Bucky. 

Back in New York, Steve handed off the contract to Tony and wandered around the Tower, feeling unmoored from reality, and wanting nothing more than to get on his bike and high-tail it to Tuscaloosa. He was wandering the Tower one night when he found Darcy watching Hallmark movies in the common lounge. She called him over to join her, and he watched a few of the movies. He could tell how they were going to end shortly after they got started, usually around the time to two love interests met each other for the first time, but he could understand the reason people loved them - despite their problems, there was guaranteed to be a happy ending, no matter the angst. He and Darcy discussed things that were happening in them, and he learned all about modern feminism and intersectional feminism. And why he should never judge someone for watching Hallmark movies. It was then, during this movie marathon - just how many “Autumn Harvest” movies could this network have?! - as the female love interest was discussing her obvious emotional bond with her plucky best friend that Darcy sighed and said, “I wish emotional bonds were a real thing.” 

Darcy’s words hit him like a punch to the gut. A HYDRA weapon to the gut. Her words explained why no one understood what had happened in Tuscaloosa. And made him worry what was likely to happen to him. And his soulmate. Who had no reason to believe in emotional bonds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is "Rusted."
> 
>  
> 
> Well, that explains everything, and asks even more questions, doesn't it?


	7. I'm going out to stem the tide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out that Bucky's officemate is the poster child for unique and complicated soulmates. Perhaps she can convince him that emotional bonds are real. And must be stabilized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's officemate has a backstory that rivals a Hallmark movie in complexity.

“It sounds like you formed an emotional bond,” Pat was saying as she settled more firmly on the barstool, instead of the perch she’d had a moment before. In the few weeks since Bucky had met Steve, he’d had intense dreams of their meeting and was feeling a need to go to New York City as soon as he could. With Pat’s area of academic specialization that of Soulmates and Soulbonds in music and literature, he’d had no trouble telling her all about the meeting and how he’d felt as though he was hung up on Steve, despite the time and distance between them. He left out the specific details, but admitted that he’d been getting off to thoughts of Steve since they’d met, and asked if there was any research on Soulmates who hadn’t touched or said their words to dream about each other. 

Despite the still-oppressive heat of the Tuscaloosa fall, she was wearing a heavy gray cardigan over her pale blue sleeveless blouse, completely covering her two Soulmarks. People would talk, otherwise. They always talked about the trinity green words running their way down her shoulder blades and back, from the top of her shoulder blades all the way to her waist - trinity green instead of the matte black of matched Soulwords or the telling gunmetal gray of Soulwords from soulmates who have passed on. The Soulmark that started on her right shoulder was blurry and indistinct, the writing smudged and faded, the words ever changing. The one on her left shoulder was as clear as day, elegantly looped cursive thanking her for something that she won’t talk about. To anyone. Not even Bucky, despite how much she’d already confided in him about her soulmates. 

“An emotional bond?” Bucky scoffed. “I’ve already told you that we didn’t even touch, much less anything... else.” Pat gave him a piercing look, even as he continued with “I’m not a character in a Hallmark movie, Pat.”

“There is more than one type of emotional bond,” she said. “Scientifically recognized, even, despite the general public being oblivious to emotional bonds. It’s not just…” she waved the hand not holding her beer bottle in the general direction of her Soulwords. “As I would know.”

“We were only together for less than an hour,” Bucky reminded her. “Not long enough for a strong emotional bond.” After he’d spoken to her about what had happened and he was feeling, she’d linked him several studies on emotional bonds, how they formed and how they affected the people involved if they weren’t stabilized. 

“The closest I’ve been to one of my Soulmates is… a couple hundred feet,” Pat reminded him, taking a sip of her drink. “And despite our emotional bond being fully stabilized, I’m the literal poster child for unusual Soulmates and Soulmarks.” 

“You identified your soulmates?” Bucky asked, knowing the answer. He knew more than most people, Pat having confided in him after _something_ had happened to one of her soulmates, though she wouldn’t tell him what had happened. 

“Oh, I’ve known since I was in high school,” she said airily, her left hand waving through the air as she took another sip of her drink. Her left hand dropped onto her right shoulder, running over Soulwords rarely seen, before repeating the gesture on her left shoulder. The touch was always more lingering on her right shoulder, a tell she was well aware of. He, she’d said, was _her_ Soulmate, regardless of her two marks.

“You’ve never met him? Them?” Bucky asked, though he knew the answer. In fact, the entire world knew the answer - Pat _was_ the poster child for unique and complicated soulmates - even though her name had been withheld from the journal, newspaper, and magazine articles because she had been a minor. Her Soulmarks had come in when she was still in middle school, despite her having not only not even met her soulmates - a mated pair, if she was correct - but having not been in the same country with them. 

Her blue eyes narrowed, as if she knew what he was up to. “Yes. I’ve met one of them. We confirmed our marks and stabilized the emotional bond with the other member of our triad. I’ve already told you that. And that was a paltry attempt at changing the subject from _your_ emotional bond.” 

Bucky sighed. There was a reason he was talking to Pat, instead of one of his other friends. He knew more of the story than most people - she’d confided in him about her twin Soulmates. “You really think so? That we formed an emotional connection? Formed an emotional bond?”

“You wouldn’t be asking me if you hadn’t,” she said, giving him a knowing look. “You know my story, how I have a complicated connection to my two soulmates, one that is both scientifically provable and completely emotional. Two Soulmates that I’d never even met, and had no real way of meeting. One of whom I can feel, sometimes.” She paused, her eyes tightening as she pursed her lips, before continuing, “from what you’ve told me, you formed emotional bond. A strong one. One that rivals mine.”

“Is there anyway to… anything I can do to…” Bucky started, trailing off even as Pat raised her eyebrow at him. 

“You figure out who he is, complete the ritual, and enjoy your Soulmate.” There were times that Pat, despite her poster-child status for unique and complicated Soulmates, despite her hopeless romanticism, was incredibly pragmatic when it came to Soulmates and Soulbonds. 

“How do I figure out who he is, Pat?” Bucky asked. “I didn’t even get his last name! All I know is that his name is Steve, he looks like Captain America, and he rides a motorcycle. That’s not much to go on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Saigon Bride" by Joan Baez.
> 
> Bucky just raised the principle of Occam's Razor - that the simplest hypothesis, the one with the fewest assumptions or deductions, is the correct one (Steve looks like Captain America, rides a motorcycle like Captain America, ergo, Steve is Captain America). He doesn't realize it yet, though.


	8. семнадцать

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Darcy research Emotional Bonds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This chapter contains a reference to one of many rape scandals found on academic campuses, when a character mentions that a university has had rape scandals.  
> \- Emotional bonds are revealed to be known to drive people insane if they aren't stabilized.

_It was then, during this movie marathon - just how many “Autumn Harvest” movies could the network have?! - as the female love interest was discussing her obvious emotional bond with her plucky best friend that Darcy sighed and said, “I wish emotional bonds were a real thing.”_

Steve spent a few days thinking about what Darcy had said, about how emotional bonds weren’t a thing. He attempted to do some research about Soulmates and Soulbonds, but was quickly overwhelmed by the results - a combination of Hallmark movies and online forums talking about emotional bonds and how it was sucky that they weren’t a thing. A few of the results that Steve found mentioned a case study from the late 1990s/early 2000s about an emotional bond, but he couldn’t find the case study or anything concrete about the authors of the case study. Everything he could find was redacted, or had been through so many iterations that the original case study was no longer there. 

It took him two weeks to talk to Darcy about it. Two weeks where he had to keep from getting on his motorcycle and gunning it to Tuscaloosa. Two weeks where he had to refrain from googling “Bucky Tuscaloosa” as it would only bring Tony or SHIELD’s attention to the young man. Two weeks where his dreams were plagued with thoughts of him. Dreams of Bucky going shopping, and dreams of fucking Bucky into his mattress in New York. Two weeks during which he masturbated more times than he had since he awoke in the strange new future. Always to thoughts of this young man, this Bucky, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 

He found Darcy on the couch in the common area lounge, watching taped coverage of the news of the most recent Avengers fight and taking notes. She looked up when he wandered in, and waved him over, asking JARVIS to pause the replay. “What’s up, Cap?” 

“I… I was wondering if you could explain something you mentioned recently,” Steve started. It took a few tries before he could ask her about emotional bonds, explaining that he had grown up with them as real, recognized, things. He explained that his parents had had an emotional bond, and that it was surprising to him to hear that they had become a thing of the past. 

Darcy had been intrigued by what he said, and opened up her laptop to do some quick research, adding that “there’s only been like one confirmed case of an emotional bond in the last, like, 50 years. And hers was weird, even for an emotional bond.” She opened up Culver University’s library page and logged into their discovery search layer. After a few minutes, she’d run a keyword search about soulmates and emotional bonds, explaining that she was going to look at the more academic resources to see what was available. Google, though all-inclusive, would return results from Pinterest, blogs, and the tabloids. Within the academic library search engine, there was one academic, attached to the University of Alabama, who was consistently writing about emotional bonds, though she focused on them in music and literature. Steve asked if Darcy could get him copies of her research articles, and if she would be willing to talk with him once he’d read them. He wanted her opinion on how the modern world thought on soul bonds. Darcy agreed and sent him copies of the articles. They decided to meet at a local coffee shop in three days to discuss what Steve had discovered.

Three days later, Steve took his printed out copies of the academic articles to the café in Manhattan. He’d annotated them, taking notes in the margins. Darcy had a similar stack of articles, though she’d chosen the author’s top three articles, instead of the 15 that Steve had read. They discussed how the author had found evidence of emotional bonds fading from public consciousness shortly after the Second World War. They debated her conclusion - emotional bonds faded from public consciousness because they faded from existence due to the nature of the war and what it did to the world - with Darcy falling on the hopeless romantic side and Steve falling on the cynical pragmatist side. As in almost everything, they were a good match - if he didn’t already know that they were not Soulmates, he’d seriously consider dating her. 

“Emotional bonds can be deadly if not stabilized,” Steve said. “They’ve been known destroy people’s sanity, if not their lives. They were beautiful and pure things, designed to help soulmates who’d not completed the ritual, who’d met but not gotten their Soul Words, figure out who their Soulmate was, and find them. They’re drawn to each other.”

“Like those Hallmark movies when the two leads interact, but don’t touch. They keep getting drawn to each other, until they complete the ritual?” Darcy asked. “What ritual?”

“They say the words and touch wrists. It’s probably not a thing any longer, either.” 

“No, not really. Usually it’s depicted as a kiss under the moonlight.” 

“Any skin to skin contact would work, it was ritualized at some point.” Steve paused, leaning back in his chair as he took a drink from his latte, thinking about something. “Would you be willing to help me do some more academic research into this? See what’s out there that’s not from the tabloids?”

“Sure! I’ll see what I can do when I’m not Science!wrangling or helping Pepper with convincing the Avengers that they need a real PR person and lawyers, not just using Stark Industries’.” Darcy wouldn’t take any apologies over her schedule and left the café with a list of things Steve though would be good starting places for academic research into emotional bonds. Just before she left, she turned to him.

“You could always email the author of those articles. She’s in the history PhD program at the University of Alabama, but she’s an academic librarian by training, according to her profile on the department website. She’s probably be happy to talk to you about her research.”

Steve paused, eyes narrowed slightly as he considered it. “Why’s the University of Alabama sound familiar?”

“It’s a major public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama? Home of the Crimson Tide, lots of football wins, and scandals over both rape and racism?” She shrugged as she headed off, not noticing how Steve’s expression had changed immediately upon hearing the word “Tuscaloosa.” He clicked over to his email and send the author an email about her work. 

Less than a week later, Steve was on his motorcycle, heading to Tuscaloosa. He was going to meet with this Pat Coyne to discuss his research into Soulmates, Soulbonds, and Emotional bonds. He was going to use his time in Tuscaloosa to figure out how to find this Bucky, explain the realities of an emotional bond and stabilize it, before the bond drove them both insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is "Seventeen."


	9. Рассвет

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before leaving for Tuscaloosa, Steve reflects upon the Soulwords he sees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A character is revealed to have lost their Soulmate. It is mentioned in passing and no more details are given.

It took Steve three days and over a dozen emails to schedule an appointment with Pat Coyne, the academic behind the articles about Soulbonds, with a focus on emotional bonds and their history. She told Steve that they couldn’t meet until the following Monday, at the earliest, thanks to the home SEC football game, though Steve had no idea what she meant by that. She assured him that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Tuscaloosa over the weekend, unless he wanted to watch Alabama take on an in-conference rival. They scheduled for Tuesday.

With the ‘in-conference SEC football rival game’ in mind, Steve decided against leaving for Tuscaloosa as soon as he could, instead choosing to wander aimlessly around the Tower, hoping that there wouldn’t be an Assembly order until after he got a chance to meet her. He wasn’t sure if she’d figured out who he was, and knew that canceling appointments at the last minute without explanation was still considered very rude. 

The day before he was planning on leaving for Tuscaloosa, Tony set off the sprinkler controls for the lab space he shared with Bruce and Dr. Foster. The sprinkler controls promptly set off an emergency tone, calling all in-residence Avengers to the lab floor. While usually unnecessary, there were very legitimate reasons why Tony would want to call the Avengers to his lab, considering the explosive nature of his work (and that he shared lab space with the Hulk). Steve grabbed the shield and ran to the labs, getting there just as the sprinklers soaked the scientists and interns. Based on their reactions, the water was both cold and unexpected. The main doors to the labs were sealed, and, without knowing what had happened, Steve asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to ask Tony if he needed to break down the door and rescue everyone. Tony replied in the negative, and almost immediately the sprinklers cut off as the doors opened, allowing everyone to leave. 

Dr. Jane Foster was the first one out, her white button up shirt almost see-through, doing nothing to hide either her dark brassiere or her Soulmark. Steve quickly averted his eyes when he realized just how see-through her shirt was, but not before seeing the famed multicolored runes that made up her Soulmark. He knew that they read “You! What realm is this?” in the language of Asgard, the first thing Thor had said, not just to her, but upon his banishment on Earth. The runes had appeared along her collarbone as she pressed her hand to Thor’s shoulder, whispering “Do me a favor and don’t be dead.” Her words crossed the expanse of Thor’s back, left shoulder to right. 

Bruce was next, already taking off his soaked shirt, Dr. Betty Ross’ “It’s okay, I wasn’t watching where I was going” running up his left arm from the crook of his elbow to his collarbone. The Hulk had Dr. Ross’ “Oh, Bruce,” on the back of his right hand, something that the _Daily Bugle_ had reported shortly after the still-classified Incident in Harlem. Steve was unaware of what were Bruce’s first words to Dr. Ross, or where they’d appeared. 

Next out was Dr. Foster’s intern Darcy, who was dragging Tony along with her. Steve saw her Soulwords peeking out from the hem of her unbuttoned shirt, the sloppy, almost illegible, letters a telling gunmetal gray. Steve felt a pang of sadness for her, the color of the Soulwords informing the world that her Soulmate had died. She was blotting the arc reactor with a rag she’d grabbed from somewhere on their way out. It was unnecessary (Steve knew the arc reactor was waterproof enough that Tony could swim when he wanted; an unexpected shower wouldn’t damage it), but it made it clear that she took her job seriously. 

Tony’s Words weren’t visible immediately, Pepper’s “What are you doing, Mr. Stark?!” located on the small of his back. Steve had seen Tony’s response of “This can’t be the worst thing you’ve caught me doing… oh, you’re new” the day he’d walked into Pepper in what he hoped was a modern bathing suit, as it was skimpier than the brassiere Peggy wore. Tony’s Soulwords were located just below her small top, crossing from right to left as if he had written them with a pen. If their Words and their locations did not succinctly sum up their relationship, Steve did not know what could. 

Steve didn’t know who’s Soulwords Natasha carried, if she carried any. Steve had seen an extremely messy scrawl on Clint’s arm during the Battle of Manhattan, but hadn’t spent much thought on it, nor had he been able to read it the few times he’d seen it since. He wondered what Bucky’s handwriting looked like, and what their first words had been. Despite his eidetic memory, Steve couldn’t remember the first words they said to each other. 

Hopefully, he’d find Bucky while in Tuscaloosa. Then he’d know what his Soulwords were and where.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is "Dawn" or "Daybreak."


End file.
